New York Search Has Leads, But No Fugitive

Vandever Eludes Police Search In New York

CLARKSTOWN, N.Y. — Convicted murderer Frank Vandever eluded a police dragnet for a second day Friday, and it appeared by evening that the inmate who escaped Somers prison may have also slipped past more than 150 officers and out of town.

Police with dogs and helicopters scrambled to dozens of sightings of Vandever in Rockland County Friday, but mostly found men who bore a faint, if unfortunate, resemblance to the 37-year-old transvestite and former stockbroker.

Clarkstown police reported more than 40 local sightings Friday afternoon.

As late as 8:30 p.m., police and FBI agents were pursuing a report that a man fitting Vandever's description had jumped off the back porch of a house and disappeared into the night.

Late Thursday night a bartender called police when he saw a woman who looked "suspiciously male" at a bar in Spring Valley, a section of Clarkstown. But it wasn't Vandever, police said.

At 3:19 p.m., police rushed to the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey and questioned a man who was spotted walking along the shoulder, but he was only a pedestrian, police said.

Three minutes later, helicopters and cruisers rushed to a bridge in the center of town and interrogated a tattered-looking homeless man, also reported, incorrectly, to be Vandever.

Police had planned to abandon the manhunt at 4 p.m., but abruptly stepped it up at about 3 p.m. when a cab driver told police that he picked up Vandever at the train station, less than a mile from the motel where he was last seen Thursday afternoon.

The driver told police that the rider, who looked a lot like Vandever, had asked to be driven to a location that police refused to disclose. But the passenger became startled when the driver took a wrong turn, and he jumped out of the cab while it was still moving, police said.

More than 100 police officers toting rifles and shotguns rushed to the neighborhood and searched house to house. Howard Goldin, Spring Valley police chief, said the cab driver was "absolutely sure" the man was Vandever.

He looked tired, and his face was flushed from the cold, the driver told police.

"He's sure, absolutely sure, and there's no reason not to believe him at this point," Goldin said. "We're staying at full manpower until we're confident that all leads are followed through and he is not in the area."

Police dusted the cab for fingerprints, but none matched Vandever's.

Police have declined to say what leads they are now pursuing, but they seized a list of names kept by Vandever in his motel room before he fled. Police believe they are the names of people Vandever may have contacted for help.

On Friday police called the names on the list, to learn if any of them were harboring Vandever in their homes. But by Friday evening, police said they had no developments.

Police said that Vandever, and Ronald Rutan, who was captured outside the EconoLodge Motel Thursday afternoon, had been living and eating in their motel room for the past two weeks. They would leave the motel in the morning, and return in the early afternoon with groceries they bought at the Shop Rite grocery store accross the street.

Vandever, who checked in under the name Bill Weston, was often cheerful and talkative, making small talk with the maids. He said he was from Maine, and had come to Spring Valley on a temporary job.

The community, just west of the Hudson River, is more than 100 miles from Somers prison and 28 miles north of New York City.

Employees at the motel said they have no idea whether Vandever watched the tabloid television program "Hard Copy" Tuesday night, when it featured his case and the New Year's Eve escape from Somers prison.

But a New Rochelle woman did watch the program, and recognized Vandever as the escapee. She called Connecticut state police, who contacted the FBI.

It was the mission of four FBI agents, who pulled into the motel parking lot Thursday afternoon, to confirm whether the tip was true. When Vandever and his partner, Ronald Rutan, saw the agents approaching, they bolted in opposite directions.

Vandever jumped over a chain link fence and ran down a ravine toward the New York Thruway.

Rutan, a career burglar who seldom got away with his crimes, was tackled and handcuffed by agents, and was arraigned Friday in federal court in White Plains.

Then he was turned over to Westchester County police. Authorities said he has waived extradition, and will soon be handed over to Connecticut state police.

Police said they interviewed Rutan for several hours, but got no information that proved helpful in catching Vandever.

Asked if the the manhunt might be more difficult because Vandever could be dressed as a woman, FBI agent Dan Clark said, "We don't think he ran away wearing high-heeled shoes." He fled in sneakers, pants and a light brown, waist-length jacket, police said.

After the search for Vandever in the center of Spring Valley Friday afternoon, police began dismantling their makeshift headquarters in a Days Inn and to move it to the state police barracks in Palisades, N.Y.

If Vandever is not spotted anytime soon, police said, they plan to move to a more subtle form of search, using plainclothes

officers and surveillance of places he may appear.

Police also plan to use the tabloid-style televison programs "Hard Copy" and "America's Most Wanted" to spread Vandever's picture throughout the country.

"Hard Copy" had planned to air an excerpt on Vandever Friday night, but postponed the segment when it appeared his capture was imminent.